Gophers football coach Tim Brewster has been sleeping in his office since practices began earlier this month. He has a queen-size air mattress crammed into the corner of his office, and it's just a few feet from his desk. I talked to Brewster on Monday about his sleeping arrangement and a few other things.

BS: Do you ever go home anymore to sleep?

TB: I'm sleeping here every night now. I'll sleep in here until the week of the first game, and then I'll reacquaint myself with my wife. I'll sleep in the office probably two nights a week during the season.

BS: Do you see your wife at all these days?

TB: She'll come out to practice. She'll sit down and eat dinner with me. We'll at least stay connected.

BS: Your house is about half an hour from the university. Did you think about buying a home closer to campus?

TB: No. I really like where I'm at. I call it my decompression zone. It's such a beautiful area. The drive is not great, but once I get out there, I love it. I love the water. I'm not on Lake Minnetonka, but I'm close. I'm between Minnetonka and Lake Virginia (in Shorewood). I've got a Lab, so I love taking my dog swimming in the lake.

BS: Have you slept in your office when you had other football jobs?

TB: Yeah. When I was in the NFL, I slept in the office some.

BS: Are you using the same bed?

TB: No. This is a newer version. This is a deluxe.

BS: It's an impressive-looking bed.

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You've got the mattress, and you've also got what would be a box spring if it wasn't filled with air.

TB: That's exactly right. (Laughs.) It's a double-inflated bed.

BS: How many hours of sleep do you get a night?

TB: I don't sleep a lot. I'm one of those people that maybe doesn't need a lot of sleep. The great thing about this setup is I can sit here and watch my tape until I want to fall asleep. And then I can wake up and I can watch it again. I just like being connected to work.

BS: Just to give people an idea of how much sleep you get: What time did you go to bed last night (Sunday night)?

TB: I watched tape until about 1:15 (a.m.) And I got up about 4:30.

BS: And that's enough sleep for you?

TB: Yeah.

BS: Some people read books in bed or watch TV in bed. Do you crawl into bed with the clicker and watch game and practice footage or do you diagram plays?

TB: When I get into bed I go to sleep watching TV. I never watch game stuff in bed. I'm always sitting at my desk doing work. When it's time to go to bed, I'm watching "SportsCenter." I'm watching something sports-related.

BS: Your desk chair is just a few feet from your bed. You can just flop into bed from your chair, can't you?

TB: There's no question. Boom. I'm right here. I should have at least made my bed before you got here.

BS: Have you gotten any calls from bed companies offering to set you up?

TB: No, I haven't. (Laughs.) But I've got the Rolls-Royce of air mattresses. Every so often, I have to put more air in. I have an air pump at the end of the bed.

BS: I notice you have team-colored sheets.

TB: My equipment manager put that together for me.

BS: How about your assistants? Do they sleep in their offices, too?

TB: Yeah, they do. (Defensive coordinator) Ted Roof lives right down the block from me out in Shorewood. He stays here in the office. (Defensive backfield coach) Ronnie Lee stays some. That's the thing I really like about this staff. These guys are football junkies. And I'm a football junkie. It is who I am, what I love. And we love being together and talking ball.

BS: Do you believe there's subtle pressure on your coaches and they think, "If the head coach is sleeping in his office, I better buy a mattress for my office, too."

TB: I tell them don't worry about that. I really want them to go home. I think that's very healthy. I really encourage the guys to spend as much time with the family as they can.

BS: Your sons are all out of high school now and out of the house. Do you think if you had younger children, it would be tougher to sleep in your office?

TB: The funny thing is, me and (wife) Cathy are empty nesters for the first time. That's a strange deal. It's so quiet in the house. I told my wife, "Thank goodness we've got the dog." It's a real transition. It is really different for the first time not having kids in the home.

BS: Do you ever worry about being labeled the workaholic who sleeps in his office, or is that some kind of badge of honor?

TB: A lot of coaches kind of get off on talking about the hours they spend in the office. That's not my deal at all. I love what I do. I truly do. I'm not looking to impress people with the hours I work or with sleeping in the office. That's not what I'm about. I just love what I do. To be quite honest with you, there's nothing better to me than training camp. Training camp is as good as it gets. When a group of guys is sequestered and working on football 24-7 and we've got no limit on the hours we can work, it's just good stuff.

BS: Where do you shower?

TB: There's a shower right here. (He pointed to a bathroom adjacent to his office.)

BS: You don't wake up at 4:30 and have breakfast waiting, do you?

TB: I run. And breakfast for me? I eat cereal. So, it's ready for me when I'm ready to eat at 6.

BS: How far do you run?

TB: Anywhere from three miles to five miles.

BS: Are you out there running at 4:30?

TB: A little after 5.

BS: It's still pitch black out.

TB: Yeah. Sometimes, it's dark-dark. I took a spill one time when I was at Texas. I stepped in a hole and broke my elbow. So, I'm careful.

BS: I'm not going to ask you to guarantee a Big Ten title or even a winning record. But can you guarantee you will at least double last year's win total? (The Gophers were 1-11 last season, Brewster's first as coach.)

TB: I don't know that I'd say that.

BS: You won't even guarantee two wins?

TB: I'll say this: We are going to be a much-improved team. I truly believe that we've taken the steps necessary to improve our football team. And how that translates into wins and losses, nobody knows. But we're going to be a much-improved football team.

BS: What excites you the most about your team?

TB: Their commitment. We don't necessarily have a chip on our shoulders. We have a boulder on our shoulders. There's so much pride, tradition, history at the University of Minnesota. And last season was a painful transition year and change year. I just love the resiliency of these kids, and the commitment they've made to our program and their work ethic. And that's what is going to allow us to win: the kids. Coaches lose and players win. These kids have worked hard.